Don't Touch That Dial

   The WAPC, Wisconsin Association of PEG Channels, announced the 2007 Video Festival Award winners and Falls Cable Access did very well this year. Village Voices, I Remember Menomonee Falls, and Reel Movie Talk all won Awards of Merit in their respective division. The Talk Show division is probably the most competitive because of the nature of Cable Programming. The entry by Access Graduate Tom Makowski also won a Merit award for his program, Bridges VI. The Community Christmas Card a long time tradition was entered for the first time and won an Achievement Award, awarded to the upper 30% of all entries. But the biggest surprise was the Award of Excellence awarded to our 2 favorite story tellers, Maggie Brooks and her daughter Ellen Brooks for "Morning Story". Congratulations to all our producers, we will be picking up the Awards at the festival next weekend in Madison, where Maggie & Ellen will actually have to prepare an acceptance speech. Falls Cable Access is by the way providing all the video and graphics for the festival this year. 

   Now on to "Speed". The Video Competition legislation hit a snag this week as the cost of administering the policies by the state came into question. This is a good thing. I have always said this "Fast Track" legislation was way too broad and loaded with traps. Now Madison is starting to see that. Here is a reprint of an article from a Senator who did not receive campaign money from AT&T. 

   When is Competition Not Competition?
By Senator Kathleen Vinehout

When is competition not competition? When the 800-pound gorilla teams up with few 500-pound gorillas and sets the rules for the game. What we end up with are tons of monkey business!

Who loses are you and I, small companies, local government, and the little gem called public access channels. In this story, the 800-pound gorilla is AT&T and the 500-pound gorillas are a hand full of large cable companies. The fight is over the rules followed by the companies that bring us cable TV. This time the big guys are writing the rules. And if you want to know what is happening – follow the money. 
   To bring us cable service, companies have an agreement with local government. Some agreements include money and support for public access channels. These are the folks that broadcast high school sports, local government meetings, interviews about local issues and people and the community calendar. Most stations run on a very tight budget. Their mission is to bring the voices of the local community to the airways. 
   Some cable agreements also help pay for connections to schools, hook ups to city government and libraries and distance learning. The big boys are writing the rules to eliminate all local control over cable. All agreements would be with the state. And the state’s hands are tied to prevent any real oversight. Under the new rules, small telephone companies and rural cooperatives would have to meet stronger rules than the few large companies. Complaints and problems with service would be sent to bottle up at the state – not the city; and the public access stations would lose most of their funding – putting many of them out of business. 
   Some of the details in this bill are almost unbelievable. Cities would have no oversight over construction in their right of ways. Large refrigerator–sized control boxes could be placed on city corners and AT&T would call the shots on when and where. And the law would stop the city from charging a fee even to recover its costs. When I read through the bill, I only got half way through and my blood was boiling. “This sounds like it was written by a corporate lawyer.” I thought. I was correct. 
   Tuesday’s Madison paper had the headline “Cable industry, AT&T helped shape video franchising bill.” The paper told the story of the drafter of the bill being given instructions by speaker phone from Washington, D.C., in a meeting of AT&T operatives. What has happened to democracy? My office has been very busy this week as we sort through what is wrong and what can be done. By newspaper accounts, there are 15 AT&T lobbyists working the legislators. They have been to see us. But they haven’t gotten very far. For most of the legislators, the first time we knew details on the bill was in a two and half hour caucus meeting on Tuesday. Many people raised concerns.    
   Unfortunately, the bill appears to be on the ‘fast track.’ It had a committee hearing in both the Assembly and the Senate this week. I have heard that it will be scheduled for the floor of both houses on next Tuesday. As I write, several other states also are grappling with the same problem. Just this week hearings were held in Illinois and Florida where the headline told the story “Bill is anti-consumer legislation disguised as cable competition.” “Legislators across the county are under attack” a public access station manager told me this morning. And th

Despite what some may say, I try never to discuss politics, pizza or religion. You can't really win an argument on these subjects because they are a matter of opinion. Different strokes, for different folks.

Recently, I needed to roll up my sleeves and get involved with a some legislation making it's way into our state law books. It involves cable access, but it was drafted to create fair competition in providing video service to communities. The idea was to create a level playing field for all video providers, with the consumer benefiting from the lower rates. (How did that ever work breaking up Ma Bell?). We have been aware of this legislation for sometime because it has a large affect on Cable Access across the state. It essentially removed control from individual municipalities but left them with little or no consumer protection. The first sign that this bill would not benefit the consumer was the fact that it was being rushed through and blinding speed. AT&T and the co-sponsors of the bill were hoping it went by unnoticed.


The WAPC, Wisconsin Assoc. of PEG Channels, went through the bill to find out exactly how it could impact channels all over the state. They found that unchanged. the bill could force the closing of over 90% of the PEG channels out there.

State Rep. Sue Jeskewitz also went through the bill with a fine tooth comb and found many items used to protect the consumer had been left out. The recent television ads were asking the question, "Isn't competition good for everyone?". The answer is of course "Yes". But this bill wasn't about being fair. Cable companies have for decades operated under guidelines to prevent, red lining, unannounced rate hikes, service quality and right of way fees. A lot of these issues were left out to make it easy for new providers to come in and offer service.

Without going into to much detail, when the WAPC said it was the eleventh hour and all hope was lost, I was amazed at how a few of the legislators really interested in the publics welfare and not the "largest lobbying group in the country" were able to band together, slow down the process and amend the bill that will probably be signed next week.

Sue Jeskewitz worked with the WAPC executive director on language for some of the tougher changes. What we have now is a bill that will not only promote competition but a bill that makes sure the municipalities won't lose income, the access channels will continue to operate and the entire village will be provided service options. The consumer should see lower bills, better quality and more options. Although I didn't like the way it was being drafted or pushed, I did enjoy the process that got it right or almost right. I want to thank Sue Jeskewitz and her colleagues again for all the last minute work they did on this bill.

Although we are in pretty good shape here in the Falls they may have saved community access across the state. It still wouldn't hurt to contact Sue or Sen. Alberta Darling's office to let them know your concerns on this bill. It will change the landscape of television for years to come.

For more info contact: Sue Jeskewtiz Rep.jeskewitz@legis.wisconsin.gov
Staff:
Pam Matthews pam.matthews@legis.wisconsin.gov
Diane Handrick diane.handrick@legis.wisconsin.gov

or Sen. Alberta Darling Sen.darling@legis.wisconsin.gov
Staff:
Andrew Davis Andrew.Davis@legis.wisconsin.gov
Jay Risch jay.risch@legis.wisconsin.gov
David Volz david.volz@legis.wisconsin.gov
Connie Schulze Connie.Schulze@legis.wisconsin.gov
John Hogan John.Hogan@legis.wisconsin.gov

NEXT WEEK!!!

We will announce this years award winners from the WAPC Video Festival in Madison. Menemonee Falls producers did very well in competition this year. One of our shows actually finished atop it's catagory. Which one? You will have to "STAY TUNED"